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Message: <blockquote data-quote="megamania" data-source="post: 6239352" data-attributes="member: 9255">CREATION SCHEMASEGMENT 349“ANOTHER SACRIFICE” 1/2/14ARYTH 9,  999Travel has been slow.   The three of them, carrying the body of Shy-Anne, are trying to walk back to the rift exit back to the ship… back to Eberron.   Shy-Anne is dead…. Alton and his dinosaur are presumed dead.   It has not been a good day or two.They cannot use magic.  Kim refuses to leave the artifact in the snow and ice in fear of someone finding it and misusing it.   Arcanis is quick to agree to carry it.   He loves anything magic which seems wrong.  It neutralizes everything he loves but…. Its magic…. An ART-I-FACT……   This being said, before leaving, he stepped out of range of the artifact to have Kim heal him and repair his bone armor exoskeleton.Soon they will reach the portal out.  They are uncertain how the artifact will affect it.  Maybe it can’t go through…. Maybe it will close it.   They don’t know for sure.  They know it was used outside of Risia once already.  It was used to down the Siberys Heir- Kim’s 1000ft long air ship.They near the portal, very tired and ready to leave.  Jasyne is uncertain what to do.   He was contracted to rescue Kim Elderitch which he has.   However, Elderitch was caught up in another artifact… The CREATION SCHEMA.   It may prove to be a greater threat than even this orb that the thri-kreen cuddles and coos over (damned insane insect).   The Frost giants had taken the completed schema from him after downing the ship.  They have left Risia to trade with Fire Giants to the south.  Greephoor, the giant guard that Kim was watched over for several weeks enjoyed passing the time by talking about things.  Often stupid things but Kim once tricked him into speaking about the Schema.   This included the brief encounter with warforged.  They came then left after learning the Schema had already left.Near night fall they spot the pillars that lead to Eberron.  Arcanis is already climbing the cliffs leading to the base of the pillars.  Jasyne and Kim following, taking turns carrying the psion’s body.  Then the darkness at the base appears not so dark.  Something is there.   “Jasyne… hold.  We are not alone.”Jasyne looks closer and concentrates to the darkness below the pillars.   Something is there.  Something very big.  The wind begins to pick up but remains inconsistent.  The thri-kreen is still too close to the creature below to use magic completely.  Blizzard steps out.  He looks up and glares at the kreen and the anti-magic prize it carries.“WHERE DO YOU TAKE IT?” Snarls the Dragon.“Blizzard.  You damned dragon- you took down me ship.” Kim snarls back.  He begins to call up spells.  “Don’t antagonize it Kim.   Maybe we don’t need to fight.” Says the Kensai Archer in true hopes of not fighting an ancient Dragon.A wall of ice begins to grow behind the two hindering their means to leave.   Kim answers by lifting off the ground.  The archer snorts and draws an arrow.  Suddenly the wind pounds at Kim.  He is slowly being forced to land.  The archer fears the wind will neutralize his range with the arrows- magic or not.  “I APPRECIATE THE TOTAL DESTRUCTION OF THE FROST GIANTS.  BUT I MUST HAVE THE ARTIFACT BACK.  WITH IT, I CAN BECOME THE RULER OF THE DRAGON COUNCIL.”“Heah… like we would allow that…” grumbles  Jasyne.  He releases an arrow and it is driven down into the ground a mere fifty away.Kim tries to call up a Pillar of Flame…. It is fizzled out as it is too close to the kreen and the orb of anti-magic.   He thought the driving wind would pound the magic into the dragon from above.  However, placing it as high up as he has allowed the orb to destroy the effect.Kim calls up a Fire Shield.  The winds try to rip it apart.  “The damned thing is using the orb’s anti-magic field as a shield.   The only way to attack it is straight on but the wind is making that nearly impossible.”“Can we lure it out?”“We can try” answers the dwarf.  He calls up the same illusion he used on the giants.  A giant image of his face appears in the sky and uses a magically bolstered voice to shout and taunt at the dragon.  The dragon snickers at the feeble attempt to intimidate it.High above it, a thri-kreen finds the ground hard to walk on.   Some of the sonic energy is reaching around the field and causing snow and ice to shift above the field.  He jumps higher to avoid it as the snow breaks loose and falls through the field onto the dragon.   Not nearly enough to do more than anger it.   To Kim, that is a form of taunting.   “FOOL!  I LIVE IN THE SNOW.  IT IS MY LIFE.” Calls out the dragon as it begins to shake like a wet dog.  Once the snow is clear from it, it sucks in its breath .  The icy breath slashes out at the fire shield.  It rips it apart and strikes Kim.  The cold is intense and numbs his entire body.Jasyne decides to try to figure out his options.   He fires an arrow higher…. The wind drops it after 75 ft of travel.  Next arrow is higher…. Drops at 110ft.   He shakes his head and tries again.   The dragon watches in amusement.   The next arrow finally reaches up and near the top height of its flight it drops…. Without its magical aura.   At the last moment the arrow begins to glow again but falls about five feet short of the dragon.  It laughs but still takes three steps back.“I am really getting to hate this dragon.” Snarls Elderitch as he pulls his frosted beard free from his collar.“He is increasing the cold within the storm.  He has us pinned down.”   Jasyne looks down at the body of Shy-Anne.  He really wishes she was alive.  She could work something out.Another blast of icy breath comes out.  Without the fire shield they both take a direct hit.  They scream in frozen pain. Even partially frozen, they can hear the dragon laughing.    Arcanis can even hear the laughter.“klik klik…. What is happening?”  The kreen looks down.  It is hard to see but clearly something is happening.  The snow is coming down incredibly hard.  “Klik Klik…. I will go to the other side now.  Use your magic…klik…. To follow.”Nothing.  Then it sees something strange.   A misty red glow.  “Klik….what?”Kim is trying to direct his Flaming sphere at the dragon.   He hopes the dragon will under estimate the power of the sphere.  Hidden inside it is a delayed fireball blast.  The dragon watches it with great amusement.  It’s True Seeing allows it to see the hidden stored spell within the flame.   Once it is about twenty feet away it castes a spell at it.  As it lifts a claw, the sphere lifts and hovers in the air.Jasyne knows what is about to happen.   “DOWN!”The dragon times it perfectly.   It moves the sphere away from it and onto the two.  Kim sputters in anger  “Damned dragon is cheatin’ by using me own magic against me!”It bursts explosively.  The flames burn Kim even as he was attempting a spell to teleport away.  Jasyne hopes his buckler of fire resistance will hold up as he using the blast for cover as he rushes at the dragon.The dragon sees him easily, his heat signature stands out in the cold.   Suddenly black tentacles burst through the snow and entangle his feet.  “NOOOOO!”The kreen looks down again to see what is keeping them.  (nat 20- FINALLY) “Blizzard-clak-clak!”  The kreen looks about frantically.   What to do?The dragon sucks in his breath to get the trapped archer.   Then he suddenly feels ill.   “NO.” It hisses.  It begins to turn up to see what the insect is doing when it lands on him.“AWAY INSECT!  YOU RUIN MY FUN THIS WAY!”  “Klik-Klik   %$#@* You Klack.”“YOU HAVE FORCED MY HAND THEN INSECT.”  It begins to move towards the others.   The black tentacles disappear much to Jasyne’s happiness but his bow will not charge up the arrows.  The dragon is nearly on top of him.  “DIE ARCHER DIE”Using the TK himself, Kim pulls at the rocks above the dragon.  “I am sorry my friend… damn you dragon…. Another dies at my hand….”   Rocks and snow and ice pull from the cliffs above.  Arcanis sees it and leaps up to the rocks.  He avoids the onslaught and follows the rocks back down.   Blizzard is struck hard but remains on its feet.Kim then decides he may have to use an ace up his sleeve- a magic ring of three wishes (like what Alton once possessed).  Jasyne begins to run as fast away as he can.  The dragon turns to follow him.  “Not fair klik.”The thri-kreen decides to try something.   Something stupid.  Even for him, it seems stupid.  With its upper arms it holds the artifact above his head.  With the lower arms he pulls out his bag.  “Stop!”The dragon ignores him.  “Stop or I will kill you!”The dragon ignores him.   “I love you klik klik. I love my little… artifact.”  The dragon rears up to jump this motion catches the kreen off guard and he tumbles down the back of the magical beast.   The dragon leaps up to finish off the heroes when the kreen grabs the bag and motions to push the artifact into it.  “Don’t do it!” calls out Kim spotting the kreen.The kreen slides the artifact into the bag.   Once a bag of holding.   Half in half out the magical effect is truly great.Blizzard is about to land on Jasyne when suddenly there is a silent rumble from behind.   The dragon opens his eyes wide wandering what this could be.   Jasyne falls into a deep pit that Kim Elderitch wished for.  He hoped the Kensai could reach it before the anti -magic zone would reach the spot.    “I loved my artifact…. As much as …klik… I do you.” will be the kreen’s last words of its mortal life.The artifact is in and out of a dimensional rift that is the bag of holding.   Magic and anti-magic compete for the same space and the end result is… well…. Explosive.Kim pours all of his will into flying and teleporting before the magic effect reaches him…. Whether it is for or against magic.Though not as impressive as Shy-Anne’s blast…. It clears snow from the area and shakes the very land.</blockquote>

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